Aah, I’ve been away! on a short but most delightfully fun girlie jaunt to Melbourne with my mother and my daughter.
I have about a zillion photos of mind-blowingly beautiful clothing, some of which I will share here very soon 🙂 And a bunch of Grease songs recycling on auto repeat in my head. And um, an extra 5kg of weight to my suitcase on the way home. Obviously, we had to visit the Fabric Store and Tessuti. Don’t worry, some of it is actually for other people! *gasp* So unselfish of me! Note use of heavy sarcasm font, there.
Anyhow, now my inner analyst is bossily commanding me to reflect upon, dissect and assess my travel wardrobe. My selection was boring and – warning, buzzword approaching; minimal. Primary motive; to create as empty a suitcase as possible, with a view to the aforementioned Christmas fabric shopping spree, ahem.
Time away:
5 days
Where to:
Melbourne
Season:
Early summer; cool and pleasant. Daytime temps were pretty consistent, from 14C lows to 22-24C highs, with a sprinkling of rain on one day.
Expected activities:
All girly stuff. Days involved chatting, walking, exhibition-viewing, browsing and ultimately spending! Evenings included still more chatting, tapas-ing, bubbly-sipping, spa-ing, and going to the theatre.
Colour scheme:
rather colourless! mostly black and creamy-white/ivories, with only some caramel brown and gold in my accessories to relieve the unrelenting nothingness.
What I packed:
from left to right, top to bottom; each garment is linked to its original construction post
forest green cardigan
loose black blouse
lightweight draped white top
loose, very pale pink blouse
black velvet dress with black satin petticoat
pale yellow scarf (never worn), black belt, pale yellow handbag
wide cream skirt
burnt brown bootleg jeans
straight ivory skirt
bathers and white thongs, travel umbrella, caramel leather sandals, black suede shoes (for evening)
not pictured, my nightie, toiletries bag and a selection of underthingies
My daily outfits:
I did use my phone to take daily selfies in our hotel mirror for my daily outfit blog but they were totally awful! So, some re-enactments…
Thoughts:
Well, just one cardigan, one pair of jeans, one evening dress and heels, one pair of day sandals. Three tops, of varying weights and silhouettes, and two skirts, again with different silhouettes. Only one pair of flat leather sandals for day wear plus the ever useful thongs. I always toss in the thongs and my bathers too, just in case. They don’t take up much room so why not! And as it turned out the hotel had a spa/hot tub which we used on three occasions *blissful sigh* so we were super glad we all had our bathers.
So, now we’re all back home, everything is washed and put away and all is back to normal and back into the nitty gritty of real life. Sad face, but only for a second; since the party season is upon us in an intensely full swing and we have tonnes of fun party-ing and socialising ahead of us for the next few weeks! Aaaugh! love this crazy time of year but how am I going to get all my Christmas sewing and cooking done? goodness only knows. I’m going to have to get cracking on that Christmas fabric pile … and fast!
I tip my hat to those who can pack minimally AND be stylish. Team jeans and white tees over here (it's the only way to keep it small). That velvet dress is totally swoon worthy! Hope you enjoyed JPG!
Sounds like you had a wonderful time in Melbourne. Was that the week that Sydney was having storms every day?
I envy your ability to mix and match your wardrobe so effortlessly. Must try that sometime when planning what to sew. I might even enjoy it!
Actually I thought this was well thought out and flexible!
thank you JKW! 🙂
I'm hearing you on the over use of aircon. My beloved thinks my thermostat is stuffed! Bring on the layers! Glad you had a lovely visit to Melbs.
I must say I really like the neutral nature of this travel wardrobe – flexible for a city trip. We are having frosts here in the UK now, so I am envying your spring-like temperatures, too.
Why is it that they always have the aircon so damn cold no matter where you go? I always freeze too. Glad you enjoyed your trip to Melbourne.
What a fantastic selection. My wardrobe is heading this way now with mostly handmade and a few of my Boden favourites thrown in. I am always cold on Planes too!! Jo x
quite inspirational to see your travel wardrobe. It is when I am packing for that sort of trip that I realize I have too many "one-offs" that don't go with other things. Love the yellow bag. And I agree completely with you on the arctic chill of AC. I am never too warm and restaurants in the summertime can be utterly freezing ! and airplanes – wow – when I see people with teeny tiny clothes I always wonder. I would be so cold. (not to mention I don't want my bare legs or feet to touch the airplane which I presume is grungy and crawling with who knows what!
I love seeing how you match up your wardrobe. I struggle with that, so it is nice to see how things can go together! What a great idea to lie everything out like that too before packing away. I usually just stack on the bed and swoop it up and put it in the suitcase, not knowing for sure that I have everything and then dig back into it wondering if I got "that" shirt or not. lol
Nice wardrobe. I had to laugh … Primary motive; to create as empty a suitcase as possible….. like any fabricholic.
I always enjoy your travel wardrobe posts! What is interesting about this one, is that you used your handbag for your 'pop' of color. If you'd taken a brown or black bag, your entire 'look' would've been different. Gotta' remember that as I tend to play it safe and stick to brown and black bags. Have fun with your new fabrics and enjoy the Christmas season!
Love all of your combinations. I like the color combos you chose. Wearing neutrals provides you with the most options when traveling. The handbag gave the pop of color which was very clever.
Love your yellow handbag! It adds a welcome pop of color in your neutral wardrobe. This is a really smart travel wardrobe. You did a great job of packing to leave room for FABRIC!
A very chic functional travel wardrobe! It really reflects your style in that although they are versatile basics, all these pieces also have a lot of character, not boring at all. I look forward to seeing your fabric purchases!
The touch of yellow stops this from being boring! It sounds a wonderful trip!
well done! a beautiful and elegant wardrobe in such a short pieces! I want to know do the same! KISS
Your travel wardrobe is superb! It seems you had a great time in Melbourne. I'm sure you looked very chic with this clever packing. Thank you for sharing!
I'm totally jealous of your selection of summer clothes for a fun summer vacation (women only! Whatthat sounds delicious …) while I'm here in front of my computer with several layers of clothes while I hear the rain outside .. .. snif.
Great post!
Can never understand when women go on a weeks holiday and travel with enough luggage to last for a month and expect everyone around them to assist them with their bags! So unnecessary, as your capsule travel wardrobe shows.
Yep-AC is evil. Why do planes/offices/theatres have to be so cold? Sitting in a fridge is a fashion don't as before you know it you've put on a fleece and scarf over your perfect outfit and all style has gone out of the window.
Carolyn, Another year almost over – one filled with your informative and imaginative posts which taught and inspired me. Thank you so very much for all the time in posting and sharing. Wishing you and yours a Merry Christmas and wonderful 2015!!
thank you so much Sewsincere for the lovely comment! wishing you a very Merry Christmas also, and a brilliant New Year 🙂
Love seeing your travel wardrobe and how you get it to work. I am another who freezes on the plane so my pashmina is always with me when I travel.
I really enjoy your travel wardrobe posts. As ever this is inspirational.
I'm another who never leaves home without swimmers and thongs. Even when I head to snowy places in winter, there is always an opportunity to use them.